CaixaBank, a Spanish bank, has added we.trade, a new blockchain trade solution to its service catalogue for companies.
Claimed to be the first blockchain-technology-based foreign-trade platform in Europe, it offers speed, security and simplicity in global trade transactions.
It was developed by a consortium of 15 European financial institutions and it will allow importers and exporters from a single connection point, to trade in digital format across a simple and user-friendly way.
The trading solution offers real-time monitoring of transactions for increased transparency across the process. The platform can only be accessed by customers who are verified and authenticated by member banks.
To avoid any default risk for companies, the we.trade platform produces smart contracts that connects the trading operation with the financing or payment, and with the fulfillment of the trading conditions
Furthermore, the tool can streamline the transaction process for suppliers and buyers on a single shared platform, improving cash management and planning.
The we.trade trading platform was built on the IBM Blockchain Platform using Hyperledger Fabric, an open source blockchain framework hosted by The Linux Foundation.
In 2018, CaixaBank became one of we.trade’s shareholders
In October 2018, the Spanish bank along with Erste Group and UBS joined we.trade as banking partners and shareholders alongside the platform’s existing banks that included Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Societe Generale and UniCredit.
The additional shareholders are expected to strengthen the trading platform’s position as a major blockchain-based digital trade financing company in production, after its launch in June 2018.
With the joining of three new banking partners, we.trade has expanded its reach in European countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Back in 2018, CaixaBank foreign trade & exchange director Mar Santana Rollán said: “By joining we.trade, we will be able to provide all our international corporate clients with leading-edge digital trade solutions, consolidating our fully customer-centric innovation model.”
